The spread between Brent and WTI stands at around $8.7 a barrel, the widest since March 2015 due to the depressed price of U.S. crude compared to Brent.

“The way I see it is that WTI prices are stabilizing rather than falling after rising sharply in recent weeks because the prices were expected to be in the range of $55-$65 a barrel,” said Vincent Hwang, commodity analyst at NH Investment & Securities in Seoul.

“But at the same time there are some worries over a fall in U.S. oil demand if more Middle East crude supplies flow into the market,” Hwang said.

Meanwhile, record crude oil volumes from the United States are expected to head to Asia in coming months, nibbling away the market share of OPEC and Russia.

U.S. oil production has surged by more than 27 percent in the last two years to 10.73 million barrels per day (bpd). That puts the United States ahead of top exporter Saudi Arabia, and only Russia pumps out more, at around 11 million bpd.